Our Visit to Edinburgh, Scotland - Day 1 - Family and the Lake House

We woke up bright and early…like 5:00 a.m. early… in London and headed out to get on the Tube. We were headed to Scotland and our destination from the Tube was to get to King’s Cross Station.

We had arrived with plenty of time and it was so fun to see King’s Cross Station with hardly anyone around…

We booked our travels from London’s King Cross to Scotland’s Waverly Station on the LNER train. Side note, mooonths ago we had found out that our travels this day would be disrupted due to rail work, so a bus was going to be needed at some point. It’s usually just a 4 hour train ride on a high speed train, but since we were visiting during low travel season, there was work being done. …..Aaaaaand Jon had booked us First Class tickets …..kind of because we were worried we wouldn’t have seats otherwise. Come to find out, we probably didn’t need First Class, BUT, I’m here to tell you that it was absolutely AMAZING and one of our favorite things!!!

While we awaited departure, we found THE Platform 9 3/4 inside of King’s Cross Station!!!! Any Harry Potter fans out there?!

So of course we all took turns pretending to run through the wall!

Our ride!

We were so excited to get settled for a bit until having to get off in York.

WooHoo! Here we go!

Also – my eyes look terrible here. Our schedules were soooo thrown off and I was in desperate need of a nap.

Nothing like a coffee to perk us up though! LOL!

We rode the train for about an hour and a half before having to get off for a bus. At the bus station we had to wait for another bus to arrive, which kind of slowed us down in order to get on our next train. Also, we all had to use the bathroom and while we knew bathrooms sometimes cost money to use, we didn’t have the correct change needed…so there was that, too. After an hour long bus ride, we had to run and I mean RUUUUN to get off the bus, in York, to find a train station and platform we’d never seen before. Also, we made the mistake of sitting in the very back of the bus which had slowed our time of getting off AND we still had to get our luggage that had been stowed under the bus. There were also a couple of sketchy dudes hanging around us and at the train platform… it was all kind of a crazy few minutes.

All in all, it sounds much worse that it was… we actually enjoyed everything and made the best of it and the kids were AMAZING! Looking back it’s fun to laugh about it.

York…

Back of the bus selfies…

We made it to our train within minutes of it departing. Phew! We were able to relax until we were to arrive in Scotland!

We ordered breakfast and enjoyed some beverages and another coffee for me!

We saw the beginnings of lots of sheep and beautiful land…and somewhere off in this foggy picture is the North Sea – which was so cool to see!

Henry napped…and I did, too…

We had arrived in Edinburgh!!! First stop – our hotel, to breathe for a minute, freshen up a bit and drop off our luggage. We stayed at the Premier Inn just off of the Royal Mile (actually we stayed at several Premier Inns while on this trip). The Premier Inns are very much like Holiday Inn Expresses – stamped out, easy, breakfasts in the morning and affordable.

We walked up a small hill and bam! We were right in the middle of it all on the Royal Mile! OMG! This was so cool!

There were so many “closes” in Edinburgh – which are just little passageways that would connect to other streets!

I regret not buying one of these!

Our first stop in this area – well, more coffee, of course. Haha! We also grabbed some little sweet treats, too.

Slaìnte!

We headed over to Greyfriars Bobby. This dog’s owner had passed away and for 14 years the dog went to it’s owner’s grave every day until it’s death.

So, lots of people touch the nose for good luck, but come to find out, we shouldn’t be touching the nose since it’s messing with the bronze. I’ve included our pictures of us touching it, but if we were to go again, I wouldn’t touch it now that we know.

Jane upset because she couldn’t reach. Bahahaha – gotta include the real life stuff. *wink*

People bring sticks to the dog’s grave. Oh my heart.

Greyfriars Kirkyard is also the location of where J.K. Rowling was inspired by names for the Harry Potter series.

The Potters..

McGonagall…

Moody…

Tom Riddle…

This was absolutely beautiful to walk through…

After our visit to the Kirkyard, we headed back toward the Royal Mile, but were able to stop for a quick photo in front of The Elephant House. This is where J.K. Rowling did most of her early writing for Harry Potter. There was a fire here a few years back, so we couldn’t go in, but still, so cool!

Next up, our visit to Victoria Street – AKA the inspiration for Diagon Alley…have you caught on to the theme for the day? Hahaha! Lots of Harry Potter finds!

Another Elephant House…

I mean, this just screams, “Scotland!”

A quick view somewhere along the way…

We visited another cemetery…because we were all loving them…

Then we found the Close used in Outlander!!! Well, at first, we though we had found it and took lots of pictures and were so excited, but then quickly realized we were in the wrong place. Bahahaha! A little embarrassing, but once we found the ACTUAL Close used in Outlander we were SO EXCITED – Bakehouse Close – AKA Jamie Fraser’s “Alexander Malcolm’s Print Shop.”

Jamie Fraser’s print shop!!!!

A jump to celebrate being in this place!

Me trying to get to Jamie! Bahahaha! Jon reminded me that I was married. Darn it! 😉 I kid, I kid!

Next, a wee walk…

Then a ride to dinner. It was cold and our reservations were a bit far away…

Our dinner reservations were at Sheep Heid Inn. It’s thought to be the oldest licensed establishment/pub in Edinburgh. Established in 1360 AND Queen Elizabeth visited here!

Our food was great and we loved the cozy feel of this pub! We called up another ride back to our hotel, because it had become darn, rainy and very chilly.